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Christ Recognized the Dignity of Humanity, January 13
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us.
Ephesians 2:13, 14
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Christ recognized no distinction of nationality or rank or creed. The scribes
and Pharisees desired to make a local and a national benefit of the gifts of heaven,
and to exclude the rest of God’s family in the world. But Christ came to break
down every wall of partition. He came to show that His gift of mercy and love is
as unconfined as the air, the light, or the showers of rain that refresh the earth.
The life of Christ established a religion in which there is no caste, a religion
by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in a common brotherhood,
equal before God. No question of policy influenced His movements. He made
no difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. That which
appealed to His heart was a soul thirsting for the waters of life.
He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the healing
remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself, He presented
a lesson appropriate to the time and the circumstances. Every neglect or insult
shown by men to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need
of His divine-human sympathy. He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and
most unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become
blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them manifest
as the children of God.
Often He met those who had drifted under Satan’s control, and who had no
power to break from his snare. To such a one, discouraged, sick, tempted, fallen,
Jesus would speak words of tenderest pity, words that were needed and could
be understood. Others He met who were fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the
adversary of souls. These He encouraged to persevere, assuring them that they
would win; for angels of God were on their side, and would give them the victory.
At the table of the publicans He sat as an honored guest, by His sympathy and
social kindliness showing that He recognized the dignity of humanity; and men
longed to become worthy of His confidence. Upon their thirsty hearts His words
fell with blessed, life-giving power. New impulses were awakened, and to these
outcasts of society there opened the possibility of a new life.
Though He was a Jew, Jesus mingled freely with the Samaritans.... And while
He drew their hearts to Him by the tie of human sympathy, His divine grace
brought to them the salvation which the Jews rejected.—
The Ministry of Healing,
25, 26
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